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ttodd_gw

Franksmom!

ttodd
13 years ago

Didn't want to hi-jack the other thread. I'd really be interested in your cleaner recipes if you care to share!

Comments (4)

  • franksmom_2010
    13 years ago

    Hi Ttodd! Here's my floor cleaner recipe:

    1/4 cup baking soda
    1/4 cup white vinegar
    *dish soap -I use about half a teaspoon, but I have really soft water, so if you have normal or hard water, you can use more)
    disolve that in a gallon of very hot water.

    I use it to mop ceramic tile and vinyl. I was using Mr. Clean or Lysol floor cleaners before, and was shocked at how much residue it left on the floors.

    All purpose cleaner:

    1 tablespoon borax
    2 cups hot water
    3 tablespoons white vinegar
    1 tablespoon dish soap

    Stir until the borax is disolved, then pour into a spray bottle. I use a 19oz bottle, and just wrote the recipe on the bottle with a Sharpie. I've used it on Formica, fiberglass, glass, ceramic, finished wood, painted wood, stainless steel, porcelain, and vinyl, and haven't had any problems. I also use it to clean jewelry, and have used it as a spot remover on carpet. It works really, really well on grout, too.

    The original recipes said that you could add a few drops of essential oil for more fragrance, but most essential oils are toxic to cats, so I don't use them. If you have pets, check with your vet. The rest of it is totally nontoxic at that dilution.

    I found the floor cleaner recipe when Frank was a kitten, and he would follow me around the house when I was mopping, and walk all over the wet floor. I didn't think the Lysol on his paws was safe, and turns out, it's not.

    DH used to always complain of headaches from the fumes when I would clean, and as we were trying to eliminate other chemicals from our diet, I started searching for nontoxic cleaners. You can certainly buy those things at the grocery now, but it's just so much easier and cheaper to make your own. Also, I've never had a problem with fumes, like if you use bleach in the toilet and shower and the all-purpose on the mirror and vanity, the combination doesn't make any sort of noxious combo.

    Both cleaners are cheap, easy to make, smell nice but not overwhelming (I use a lemon dish soap, so it smells faintly citrus-y) and work well. I made my own Swiffer pads out of cheap microfiber cloths, and use the all-purpose cleaner sprayed on one of those for touch ups and spills in between mopping.

  • DLM2000-GW
    13 years ago

    Franksmom thanks for sharing those. Quick question..... with the floor cleaner, do make it fresh each time? I keep a vinegar/water mix in a spray bottle for quick spot floor clean-up and more general mopping - any reason your recipe wouldn't work as a substitute or does it have to be warm/hot to work?

  • franksmom_2010
    13 years ago

    Dlm, I'm sure you could use it at room temperature and it would be fine. I do make it fresh when I mop, but mostly because I don't have a good place to store gallons of it.

    When I mop, I use two buckets, one with the solution in it, and one with plain water. I mop an area with the solution, then rinse the dirty mophead in plain water. I don't rinse the actual floor, just the mop, so that each time the mop goes into the solution bucket, I'm not just making the mop water dirty.

  • franksmom_2010
    13 years ago

    Hi! I was just doing some mopping, and realized that the water amount for the floor cleaner is wrong. That should be TWO gallons of hot water instead of one.

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